Wednesday, July 28, 2010

My now favorite White Cake recipe

I have always wanted to find an awesome recipe for white cake. White cake with white buttercream is my favorite kind of cake. I have tried sooo many white cake recipes. So many. And I've experienced many disappointing results. Although the base of this recipe is a cake mix, it's definitely the closest I've come to my idea of a perfect white cake. I will have to accept the fact that it's not totally from scratch. The way I look at it is - this recipe incorporates the good things about the cake mix (tenderness & additives that keep it from going stale quickly) but has the wonderful flavor & texture of a scratch cake. When I read the reviews from folks who had made this recipe (on allrecipes.com), some commented that it tasted artificial, or like a store bought cake, or like a cake mix. I happen to like the taste of some cake mixes and I certainly like the tenderness of cake mix cakes so I did not have a problem with the flavor of this cake. If you are thinking that you will save time making this, you would be wrong. It takes just as much time as making a scratch cake. I made a double recipe, therefore I had to separate 8 eggs and it has a lot of other ingredients that the back of the box doesn't include. A double recipe makes a perfect four 9 inch layers. I did not want such a strong almond flavor so I used a lot less almond & doubled the vanilla. I bet it would have been wonderful if I would have used a vanilla bean or two in the batter. But the end result of this cake it a perfectly moist, tender, not too dense, fine crumbed & flavorful perfectly white cake. I was sure to use only egg whites (but a little bit of one egg yolk slipped into the batter) and I made sure to use CLEAR vanilla extract. I wanted a WHITE cake - not OFF white. I used cake strips around each of my 9 inch pans and I placed the pans on a 3/4 baking sheet. I wanted to prevent overbrowning and to ensure even baking. You know how sometimes cake mix cakes are kind of fragile because they are a little to tender & fluffy? I think it's the added sour cream that adds some sturdiness to these layers because they were easy to handle and to ice. Also, I was careful to get cake mixes that did NOT have the added pudding in the mix. Some reviews stated that the extra pudding made the cake almost too moist, somewhat sticky. I used Duncan Hines White. I'm telling you, this is my idea of a delicious and perfect white cake!! You just need to get over the fact that it's not totally from sratch. I highly recommend it.

Stir together the white cake mix, flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl until well mixed. Pour in the water, sour cream, vegetable oil, almond and vanilla extracts, and egg whites, and beat with an electric mix on low until all the ingredients are mixed and moistened but some lumps still remain, 4 minutes.

3.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, and bake in the preheated oven until the top is a light golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool before frosting.

This cake sounds great. I would usually skip those recipes with package cake mix when I browse Allrecipes, as I would prefer to bake from scratch. But I guess, if we are short of time, this would be a great alternative. Thanks for sharing!

Wow, that looks gorgeous! You just gave me an idea on what to make for my daughter's 8th birthday. I already planned to make pink cupcakes with at least 3 different shades of pink to keep up with the princess motif. But I think your cake will look so pretty with little pink cupcakes around it! She loves Snow White by the way, so, I think I'll just buy one of those Snow white figurines to decorate this cake. I can't hardly wait, I think my Arianna is going to love this!!! Thanks for sharing this by the way! :)

Heidi, your cake looks and sounds otherworldly good. I love your recipes and the food you feature here. This was my first visit, but it will not be my last. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings...Mary

This is simple awesome! I have tried your recipe and it is one of the best cakes I have made. So simple yet full of flavor. It also went really well with a cup of coffee made from my new rancilio silvia espresso coffee maker. Kudos!

Heidi I've been following your blog now for some time and I just tried this recipe for cupcakes with a Raffaello inside of them and let me tell you, it is DELISH! thank you for providing us with this great recipe, I'll be sure to use it more than once :)

this is truly the BEST white cake recipe I've ever found. It's simple and sooo good. Thank you so much for sharing it. I've made it twice and everyone who has tried it just loves it. Many, many thanks!

I have been decorating cakes for many years, and this is my go to cake for white cake. I also have tried so many scratch white cakes, and none taste the way I envisioned. I do scratch cakes for all my other cakes, just not for white, and feel like there is nothing wrong with it, its all about the taste. For wedding cakes this turns out perfectly. In fact it is from a famous cake decorator, she published her recipe years ago. I know alot of cake decorators that use this recipe.

I'm glad to hear there is another cake enthusiast who thinks this is a "go to" white cake recipe. I too have from scratch recipes for every other flavor of cake but for white cake, this is my favorite. AND it's soooo easy! Every time I make this cake I get tons of compliments. The favorite combination seems to be this cake filled with raspberry filling and a pure white vanilla buttercream (the fluffy smooth buttercream - not the heavy sugary one). I always make a double recipe and make 3 pretty thick layers. It makes a towering beautiful layer cake. I only use Fat Daddio pans for my cake pans. They have nice tall straight 3 inch sides and the cake is always so evenly baked (I spray it with Pam and line the bottom with parchment). Plus Fat Daddio pans are extremely reasonably priced. I definitely recommend that brand.

I'm trying various recipes looking for a terrific white cake recipe for my nephew's wedding in April. I've followed this recipe without adjusting extracts, and it has just come out of the oven (I did have to cook it for more like 45-50 minutes, but I have different sized pans). So far I love what I see. They both turned out nice & level (used cake strips). When I leveled the bit that came slightly over the edge of my smaller pan, it revealed a dazzling white, moist inside. The portion I removed was a delicate, crisp, but not tough crust, which was very tasty, I, too, will do less almond extract next time though. It didn't have enough of the inner cake to get a good feel for the texture, density or taste of that. I will be icing them with crusting buttercream once they cool. If they handle well and are dense enough for my tiered cake, I think this will have to be my favorite white cake recipe too. Its melt-in-your-mouth delicious!

Your white cake recipe is the absolute best white cake I've ever eaten! I actually crave this cake and as often as I can get away with eating dessert, I have to make this cake. I came across it on Pinterest and put it on one of my boards. Thank you sooooo much!

Oh my word! You know, I did not even know that cake mix boxes have decreased the amount of mix inside the box! I bought 2 Duncan Hines white cake mixes the other day and made this recipe and my cakes turned out lovely. Since I JUST bought the boxes less than a week ago, I'm sure they were the decreased amount but the recipe still turned out wonderful. I'm going to have to look into this. Thanks for the heads up.

I only like almond as an accompaniment to vanilla. Almond, I think, is too strong of a flavor. It would be too overpowering if it was the only flavor added. I add about 1/2 teaspoon and then I add a vanilla/butter flavoring I have and love. I add about a teaspoon of that. Sometimes I also add a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste. That adds those nice little brown flecks too! I usually don't even measure my extracts, I just pour it in liberally.

To solve the problem of the decrease in the box mix, I keep a box of mix on the side to make up the difference. I add from this mix to get 18.25 ozs. My scale has a tare weight feature so its easy to add more mix before I add the other ingredients. The first time I used this recipe I used Ducan Hines. The box contained 16.50 ozs of mix!

Hi, I made this cake today, it is really good, has some densness and chew to it if you know what I mean. BUT, a couple of comments. First of all I do not taste the almond so when I make this again and I will, I will add more almond extract. I only had about 1/2 cup of sour cream so I used that and since I only had a yellow cake mix, I used 3 jumbo eggs instead of 4 large egg whites. And 25 min was not near long enough at 325 degrees so I bumped up my oven to 350 for another 15 min and it came out great. Very good cake, thank you for sharing the recipe.

Hi all, This recipe is absolutely the perfect texture for wedding cake layers. I am making a four tier stacked wedding cake this weekend using this cake. I am torting the layers with raspberry filling. To those who commented that it's a "short cut" due to using a mix base, I disagree. It takes about the same amount of time to make a 100% scratch cake and this one is really good! Thanks Heidi...anyone who makes wedding cakes should try this recipe out. I love the way it bakes and handles.

Ok I just made this cake for MY wedding in one week. I plan to freeze it then frost it later. I've made a few different batches now (one of which was my grandmothers) and this is hands down PERFECT!!!! I substituted the flour with cake flour however (sifted), and I did use a box that was 16.25 oz, Betty Crocker Super Moist white cake mix (with the pudding). I also used 2 small cake pans and the rest of the batter I made tester cupcakes with. I did have to bake it a little longer than 25 minutes impatiently but It's PERFECT! Thank you so much for posting this recipe!

Ok I just made this cake for MY wedding in one week. I plan to freeze it then frost it later. I've made a few different batches now (one of which was my grandmothers) and this is hands down PERFECT!!!! I substituted the flour with cake flour however (sifted), and I did use a box that was 16.25 oz, Betty Crocker Super Moist white cake mix (with the pudding). I also used 2 small cake pans and the rest of the batter I made tester cupcakes with. I did have to bake it a little longer than 25 minutes impatiently but It's PERFECT! Thank you so much for posting this recipe!

I have to make a big cake next weekend for a baby's birthday. Mom requested Yellow cake with vanilla icing. It does have fondant accents. Do you have any suggestions for icing that can be used with fondant and holds color well? If you have time to help I would be forever in debted! Thanks so much for your help!!!

This looks amazing! Im going to make it for my gender reveal party.when you made it with 4 9inch pans did you cook at the same temp and time as the sheet cake? And would you still double the recipe if you were making 3 tiers? Thank you so much ! Cant wait to try this weekend! Amie

Definitely make a double recipe if you want to make a triple layer cake. It will make 3 thick 9 inch layers so make sure you have the tall sided 9 inch pans. Actually, now that I think of it...I think a double recipe can make a triple 9 inch layer cake AND then some (maybe some cupcakes, or a small sheet cake or even another layer). If you want to make it 4 layers, then I would put a little less in each pan otherwise it might be too tall. My triple layers are already pretty darn tall, especially with icing and decorations included. The recipe says to bake at 325 degrees but 350 works fine too. I wouldn't go higher than that. Be sure to line the bottom of your pans with parchment circles AND spray the sides well too. Hope you like the recipe.

1 1/2 inches in the standard height for cake pans. I have 3 inch sided ones. So YES, you must put less batter in. This cake rises quite alot so be sure not to overfill. Better a little underfilled than overfilled. Gosh, that would be a huge mess in your oven to clean up! Since your pans have such low sides, you will have extra batter even after you fill your four 9 inch pans. Make some cupcakes. That way you are able to taste test the cake yourself before serving the large one to people. Plus, isn't it always nice to have extra cupcakes to give away for gifts or to keep around the house?

As for the icing, you will need a lot to fill and ice your 4 layer cake. So make plenty. It's better to end up with extra than not have enough and you don't want to be skimpy on the icing!

Hi! I just made this recipe for the first time today. I made a double batch and made 2 - 8" round, 1 - 10" square and 5 cupcakes. Just tried the cupcakes and do like the flavor and the density. The recipe I followed said to only mix for 2 minutes. My cakes I baked at 325 and didn't want to over bake them but they have very little brown on the bottom. Also, my tops fell a little in the middle and I'm wondering if you can help me figure out why. I did bake all 3 cakes at the same time and switched them between the top and bottom shelf half way through baking. Could that movement have caused the fall? Thank you so much for your help.

Ahh...the old cake sinking in the middle problem. I sometimes still have that problem. Happens randomly. If you "google" that problem - you will get 20 different reasons why it occurs. So I'm not going to pretend I know the answer to your problem. I have made this same white cake recipe when it HAS sunk in the middle and I've made it when it domes. And I ALWAYS use cake strips around my pans! They are supposed to prevent doming. I DO know that on occasion when I have removed my cakes from the oven too soon, they collapse in the middle while cooling. I'm always so afraid of overbaking my cakes and have it turn out dry and crumbly that I obsessivly watch my cake for just the right moment to remove it from the oven. I'd rather have it slightly underbaked than overbaked. And remember, your cake will continue to bake from the residual heat for awhile after you remove it from the oven. But the point is, I'm sure your cake will still taste wonderful even if it did sink a bit in the middle. You make it sound like it was just a slight sinking. I've stacked and frosted cakes that were totally sunk in the middle! Just fill that big dip in with plenty of extra icing!

This cake is awesome. I made this cake for my daughter's Frozen birthday party. I needed a white cake so that I can make the layers white and blue ( instead of yellow and green;)). I made one tier with almond flavor and the other vanilla. I must say the almond one had better reviews. .. but both were equally good. It held up well with fondant as well. Thanks so much!

I found this recipe and since I love white cake I asked my mom to make it for my birthday. Literally the BEST cake anyone in my family has ever tasted. Now everyone wants her to make it for their birthdays. Usually we have to throw parts of the cake away every year because it doesn't all get eaten but this year the cake was gone in a day. Thank you so much for sharing this.

Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It truly IS the BEST White Cake Recipe out there. I have tried so many other recipes but they were ALL epic failures only to find out later on the comments that something was adjusted or left out. I mafe cupcakes and two 6 inch rounds and they all turned out perfectly. This recipe is the BEST!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you ��

Well, well...who knew a little trash can could be the demise of my first message? lol duh.Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for a new and improved recipe. I can't wait to try it. Like other posters, yes, it may have been written somewhere else, but that's how these things come about and get improved upon. Someone from way long ago posts it and then others add to it. We always take credit for it when it's good. ;) I've taught baking and decorating for years, and many of my decorating students would tell me they were going to take credit for my cakes. I would tell them to go ahead. That's what people do. lolI'm not one for cake mixes, so I don't have one around the house, but I will pick one up when I go to the store, just so I can try this. :) It sounds delish!

I can't wait to try this later today. When I went to the stores yesterday, I couldn't find a cake mix with the 18.25oz. Where do you normally find this size? Also, I saw on the reviews that they used the typical size and doubled it and it turned out well. Would you recommend doing this?

I think all cake mixes are less than 18.25 oz now. I always keep an extra cake mix and just use a few spoonfuls of that one to make up the difference. I make enough cakes that the extra box will sit in my cupboard for a couple months and then it's used up. I'm pretty sure the cake would turn out fine if you just used the smaller cake mix also without any changes.

This recipe was not created by me! I found it on allrecipes.com but I've also seen it posted on many other sites and forums. It seems to be quite popular. There are slight variations but they are all basically the same. But yes, it's nice when you can take a recipe base and put your own spin on it. I have since found other totally from scratch white cake recipes that I like as well as this one but I still do make this one frequently. It's easy. It's reliable. It's consistent. It's delicious! It's definitely one of my favorites. This recipe results in an awesome cake with a nice fine textured crumb.

Ya know...I'm not sure if I have ever used a 13x9 pan when baking this white cake. When you make a cake mix and follow the recipe on the back, a 13x9 pan is fine. But the recipe I have posted adds a lot more ingredients. The 13x 9 pan might overflow. If you need a 13x9 size cake maybe just remove a little bit of the batter after mixing and make some cupcakes or a very small layer. . Like a 6 inch pan.

I've been chasing the perfect white cake from scratch for a year now to no avail.....THIS cake is by far the BEST white cake in my opinion...No its not totally a "from scratch" cake...but no one's complaining about it...everyone loved it...made a three tier 'Frozen' cake and it worked out fantastic...3 days later and the cake did not dry out like some white scratch cakes tend to do...thank you Heidi!!!!

I'm glad that so many people are enjoying this recipe. It's easy and delicious and always gets rave reviews. It's a good fall back recipe. Just keep a couple of boxes of white cake mix in your cupboard for last minute cake emergencies. I do like baking white cake from scratch too but this one is consistently awesome where the scratch ones get mixed results.

Ok, so tonight I decided to try the recipe for some Valentine's Day cupcakes. I used one DH White cake mix...16.5 or so ounces and followed with the rest of the recipe exactly as it is.I have to tell you, I thought I was going to get pound cake cupcakes by some of the comments I've read, but what I got was a big surprise. I've been looking for a good SPONGE CAKE recipe for a while, and tonight, I found it. Just don't let it bake all the way until brown. I baked my cupcakes at 350 for 27 minutes and some crusted over, but the insides of these cupcakes were just as spongy and soft. I love them, so I'm going to cut the bake time back just a few minutes to keep that sponginess all around. Now I know what I'll make for my strawberry "shortcakes" this year! YUM!

I have to make 48 cupcakes... How many batches of this recipe would you recommend? I read through the comments and saw that they rise quite a bit. Should I only full the liners half way or the normal 3/4 the full? Thanks for your help!

Marie Page, I don't know how many cups make up a cake mix. But I know this recipe calls for a 18.25 oz cake mix. Nowdays, cake mixes are closer to 16.5 oz . I keep an extra box of cake mix on hand to make up the extra couple of oz. I'm sure the results would be fine if you only used the 16 oz cake mix but I just personally feel better about using the full 18.25. And no, I do not weigh my dry ingredients although many bakers say you should for better results. Here is a link for one of my icing recipes. It's a favorite.

I am trying this recipe for the first time today and I could not find a 11x13 pan so I bought a 11x15. Do you suggest making a double batch and doing cupcakes as well. How far should I fill the cake pan in hopes that it doesn't overflow? My sides are 2 inches. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I don't know why the recipe suggests a 11x13 inch pan. That is an odd size. I certainly do not have one and I have a lot of baking pans! I also have a 11x15 pan. I think a single recipe would fit nicely in the 11x15 inch pan. I would suggest not to fill it more than half full. I always purchase Fat Daddio cake pans and I chose the ones with tall sides (I think 3 inches). I like tall layers and there is no need to worry about overflowing. If you are making the cake to give away, you want to save a little batter to at least make yourself one or 2 cupcakes. I personally do not like to give a cake away without tasting it first my self. Have to have quality control. If you want to make a double recipe you will have a taller 11x15 cake and you can make plenty of cupcakes or another cake. I often will make a 6 inch double layer cake along with my big cake and just serve the 6 inch cake to my husband and kids. Let me know how it turns out!

Poor planning for Easter on my part! So, I used a yellow cake mix (16.25 oz), all other ing as listed, except 3 eggs instead of 4 whites. I used my standard cake pan, 9 x 13. I baked it for 15 minutes at the 325 and then another 15 minutes at 350 after reading the comments. It is an amazing cake! Probably even better with a white mix, but, as I said, made due with what I had on hand. Topped with a cream cheese & cool whip frosting and it is pretty fab! Thanks for the recipe.

I LOVE this recipe and this has become my go-to for all of our vanilla cakes. I'm commenting because I was scrolling through my fb feed and saw a post that looked like yours. When I opened it, I was SHOCKED! They literally copy and pasted this post, stole the pictures and are using it all as their original content. PLEASE report these people! I'm so sorry. Your post is great, and like I said, I use this recipe alllll the time. Just giving you the heads up on the site that stole your content. Hope you are able to report them and shut them down!

Emily, you can make three 8 inch layers or three thinner 9 inch layers. Of course it depends on height of your pans. I use 3 inch deep Fat Daddio pans which are extra deep. A lot of pans are only 1.5 inches. Just make sure you fill no more than 1/2 full

Emily, you can make three 8 inch layers or three thinner 9 inch layers. Of course it depends on height of your pans. I use 3 inch deep Fat Daddio pans which are extra deep. A lot of pans are only 1.5 inches. Just make sure you fill no more than 1/2 full

I just made your cake recipe for birthday cupcakes for our company president. Oh. My. Goodness. They turned out AMAZING! I only had Dunkin Hines Signature French Vanilla cake mix on hand, but it was delicious. I posted a picture on my Facebook page if you'd like to see. The recipe makes 3-dozen cupcakes - enough to let my husband take some to work, too. https://www.facebook.com/Pintesting/photos/a.270223166435504.1073741825.215509441906877/421039881353831/?type=3&permPage=1

Yes for sure double the recipe. You might have a bit too much cake batter but with a single recipe u wouldn't have enough to fill three 12 inch cake pans (you did mean a triple layer 12 inch cake yes?). I don't know how tall your cake pans are but I wouldn't fill more than half full. Just use the extra battery for cupcakes or very small cake pan.

Yes for sure double the recipe. You might have a bit too much cake batter but with a single recipe u wouldn't have enough to fill three 12 inch cake pans (you did mean a triple layer 12 inch cake yes?). I don't know how tall your cake pans are but I wouldn't fill more than half full. Just use the extra battery for cupcakes or very small cake pan.

I like this cake a lot. We too are looking for some wedding cake ideas. Actually we have longing of a Green wedding at some popular New York wedding venues and would like to have suitable three tier cake. I wonder if you can help!

Heidi

My name is Heidi. I live in Seattle and I love to bake. Please take your time and browse my collection of baking recipes & experiments. Most of them good....some...well, not so good. I'm honest with my reviews so you know what to avoid! Please email me if you have questions or just want to chat! I'd love to hear from you. nillanamba@gmail.com